Ledger tray



Nov. 4, EME. R. CONNOR ET AL.

LEDGER; TRAY Filed March 2, 1940 3 Sheets-Shree?l 2 1NVENTOR5 2065/? CONNOR 50N 5. EL K C?, l

ATTORNEY NW. 4, w1.

R. CONNOR E-l-AL LEDGER TRAY Filed March 2, 1940 5 Sheeflzs-Slfxeefl 3 1N VENTORS @06E/ COA/N02 B/ NELSON 5. WELK ATTORNEY.

Patented Nov. 4, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT `FFICE LEDGER TRAY Roger Connor and Nelson S. Welk, Athens, Ohio, assignors to The McBee Company, Athens, Ohio, a. corporation of Ohio Application March 2, 1940, Serial No. 321,825

(Cl. l15-96) 3 Claims.

Our invention relates to that class of trays which are designed to contain loose-leaf accounts or other documents to be led away.

In devices of this type with which we are familiar, the trays or drawers slide in and out of a casing on a horizontal plane, as a result when the tray is completely or nearly completely filled it is quite difficult to inspect the documents in or near the rear of the tray.

Our invention has for its principal object to provide a tray which constitutes a unit of itself and also in which the contents are easily available, even though it is completely lled, thereby saving considerable work on the part of oice workers who must examine the files in the rear of the tray.

A further object is to provide an adiustable follower which will hold the files in the tray tightly against and parallel to a'stationary support, but which can be quickly and readily adjusted so as to relieve the pressure and also render the les more accessible.

A further object is to provide an adjustment for the base of the trays so that, as the demand for additional space occurs, it may be expanded to accommodate a second row of trays.

A further object is to provide a stationary support at the front of the tray at an angle whereby the greater part of the weight of the contents of the tray will be in the forward end of the tray instead of the rear.

A further object is to provide a tray which may be removed from its casing and in which the bottom of the tray is flat with no overhanging projections either from the sides or ends to prevent it from being parallel along its entire surface with the top of a table when laid upon same.

A further object is to provide a casing in which the tray is guided into same by line contact instead of surface contact.

Our means of accomplishing the foregoing objects may be more fully comprehended by having reference to the accompanying drawings which are hereunto annexed and are a part of this specication, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of our improved invention showing our combined casing and ledger tray;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of our improved invention showing how the individual trays may be added;

Fig. 3 is a side elevation with the casing and rear end of ledger tray in section showing the guide and stop rollers and with .the tray in inclined position;

Fig. 4 is a horizontal cross section of the casing only taken on line i of Fig. 3 showing the position of guide and stop rollers;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary cross section taken on line 5 5 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary cross section showing how individual units are mounted together to form a large filing cabinet;

Fig. 7 is a side elevation partly in section of the ledger tray; and

Fig. 8 is a cross sectional view of the ledger tray taken on line 3 8 of Fig. 7 with card clamping device left out.

Similar reference numerals refer to similar parts throughout the specification.

Asshown in the drawings, our improved tray consists of a base I, front and rear end walls 2 and 3, and side walls 4 and 5. The side wall 5 is mounted upon a hinge 6 in order to provide ease of access to the files. The construction of this hinged side is fully set forth in Patent No. 1,712,238, issued May 7, 1929, to Nelson S. Welk, assignor to The McBee Binder Company. A detailed description thereof is therefore unnecessary and will be omitted.

The other side d is rigidly secured to the front and rear end walls 2 and 3. On this side wall #l we form a guide 'l which extends longitudinally thereof and is arranged to loosely engage a roller t secured to the side wall of the casing 9. Preferably this roller is formed with a circumferential groove I on its periphery. The walls I I and I2 of the groove I slant inward1y,vas clearly seen in Fig. 5. The roller is mounted for free rotations on an ,axle I3 which is secured to a bracket I4 by means of a nut I5 threaded upon the end of the axle I3. The bracket It may be fastened to the casing 9 by spot welding or in any other suitable or convenient manner.

On the rear wall 3 and adjacent the end I6 of the guide 'I we mount a detent Il which is arranged toabut the groove I0 of the roller 8 when the tray is almost completely withdrawn from the casing. Preferably the end I8 of the detent Il is shaped to conform to the groove I0 of the roller 8, while this is not essential we have found in practice it makes the tray steadier when the worker is using it.

At the bottom of the aperture which receives the tray we mount anti-friction members upon which the tray rolls. As shown in the drawings, they consist of fixed rollers I9l and 2li mounted adjacent .each side of the tray thereby facilitating the withdrawal of the tray and closing of the same. 'I'hese rollers are spaced sumciently below the roller 8, so that the: tray will be free,

,when it is in place.

At a distance slightly below, the top of rollers I9 and 20, a track 2| is mounted on the side walls of the casing 3, to support and guide the tray when it is in the casing at which time the bottom of the tray will be at a tangent to the rollers I9 and 28. In construction, these tracks 2| consist of a. leg portion 22 secured by spot welding or in any other suitable or convenient manner to the side walls of the casing 9, an oiset portion 2,3 which supports a guide portion 24 that keeps the tray from moving sidewise and a horizontal part 25 upon which the rear end 260i the tray slides. The line contact of the rollers I9 and 20 on the bottom of the tray and at the line contact of end 26 on the track 25 permits the tray to slide in and out of its casing with minimum eort on the part of the user regardless of the weight of the contents of the tray.

Our adjustable follower is shown more clearly in Fig. '1 and comprises a stationary plate 21 which is secured to a follower block 28. This block 28 is slidable in the manner usually provided for adjusting the tray to accommodate the amount of files placed in the: tray. We provide a pivoted plate 29 carried by a pivot 30 upon which it swings. The pivot 30 is mounted upon the follower block 28.

At the rear of this plate 29 we mount a spacer 3| which is hingedly secured thereto by a hinge 32. A latch 33 may be provided on the follower plate 21 to hold the spacer 3| in place.

Normally the spacer 3| is in the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 7, the spacer 3| holding it in that position and compressing the les against the stationary support 34 in the forward or front end of the tray. It will be seen that in this manner the les are held parallel to the stationary support 34 thereby conserving space to the utmost but when access is desired to the les in the tray the pivoted plate 29 is swung into the position shown in full lines in the said figure. This entirely relieves the pressure and permits the worker to have ease of access to the les.

Our means of extending the base 35 which is carried by legs 36 and 31 is clearly shown in Fig. 2 and c omprises a through bolt 38 which extends through a slot 39 formed in the cross members which connect the legs 36 and 31 of the base 35. It will be apparent that by loosening the bolt 38 the legs 36 and 31 may be moved towards or away from each other thereby making it possible to adjust the width to accommodate a plurality of stacks of casings as desired.

When the worker desires to inspect the les, he draws the tray out until the end I8 of the detent I1 abuts the groove I8 of the roller 8 when the tray will be held in the inclined position shown in Fig. 3. It will be obvious that any desired angle of inclination may be obtained by loeating the end of the detent I1 in various positions.

Having described our invention, what we regard as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a ledger tray adapted to slide into a casing, said tray having a base, front and rear ends and sides, one of which is hinged adjacent the base to permit it to swing laterally, a guide on the stationary side, a grooved roller mounted on a shaft fxedly secured to said casing engaged by said guide, and a detent at the rear end of said guide adapted to engage said roller when the tray is fully opened, said detent being so shaped that it ts the said groove in said roller so that when the tray is dropped below its normal plane said detent will engage the groove in the roller.

2. In a ledger tray adapted to slide into a casing, said tray having a base, front and rear ends, and sides, one of which is hinged adjacent the base to permit it to swing laterally; a guide on the stationary side, a roller mounted on the casing and adapted to be engaged by said guide, and a detent at the rear end of said guide adapt ed to engage said roller when the tray is fully opened, the top of said detent being beveled whereby it will not engage the roller until the opened tray is dropped below its normal position.

3. In a ledger tray adapted to slide into a casing, said tray having a base, front and rear ends and sides, one of which is hinged adjacent the base to permit it to swing laterally, a guide on the stationary side, a roller mounted on a shaft xedly secured to said casing engaged by said guide, anti-friction means on which said tray slides, and means carried by the tray adapted to engage said roller only when the opened tray is dropped below its normal plane.

ROGER CONNOR. NELSON S. WELK. 

